ALGIERS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - A total of 77 people died in the crash of an Algerian military transport plane carrying members of the armed forces and their relatives on Tuesday, the defence ministry said, fewer than the 103 dead that had been cited by local media.

The ministry said in a statement bad weather was the likely cause of the accident, one of the worst air crashes in the North African country in a decade. (Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)